Stocks Crawl Under Congressional Cloud — Tuesday’s IP Market Recap

by Marc Bastow | November 27, 2012 5:05 pm

[1]For all of Tuesday’s good news, one little statement went a long way in the other direction.

The Case-Shiller Home Sales Index showed home prices jumped 3.6% in the third quarter, the biggest increase since the second quarter of 2010. We also got a better-than-expected reading on consumer confidence from The Conference Board, and new orders for durable goods (excluding transportation goods) were up 1.5%.

Plus in Europe,eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund reached an agreement that moves Greece closer to receiving a massive bailout payment.

Yet a remark by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about the “little progress” made on avoiding the year-end cliff was enough to send the markets in retreat. The Dow Jones finished down 0.69% at 12,878.13, the S&P 500 lost 0.52% to end at 1,398.94, and the Nasdaq ended lower by 0.3% to 2,967.79.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ[2]) was one of the Dow’s biggest weights, losing nearly 3% as it continues to suffer the effects of its $8.8 billion Autonomy write-down[3]. HP now has been threatened with shareholder lawsuits[4] related to the deal.

McMoRan Exploration (NYSE:MMR[5]) added more losses Tuesday following Monday’s report that testing at its huge Davy Jones fields proved inconclusive[6]. MMR has lost nearly a third of its value in just two days.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST[7]) soared more than 13% after news[8] that concerns over a regulatory restraint on energy drinks might not be as significant as originally feared, and the FDA is not planning on any immediate action.

Footwear maker Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX[9]) shares rose nearly 10% after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS[10]) initiated coverage on the name with a “buy” rating and $17 price target. Shares closed at $13.50 on the day.

Lastly, food giant ConAgra (NYSE:CAG[11]) reached a deal to buy private-label food manufacturer Ralcorp (NYSE:RAH[12]) for $90 per share in cash — a 28% premium on RAH shares. CAG got a bump of just less than 5% by Tuesday’s close.

Three Up

Broadsoft (NASDAQ:BSFT[13]): Up 7.97% ($2.40) to $32.53.

Corning (NYSE:GLW[14]): Up 6.87% (78 cents) to $12.13.

Knight Capital (NYSE:KCG[15]): Up 5.32% (15 cents) to $2.97.

Three Down

Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM[16]): Down 10.52% ($1.26) to $10.72.

Vringo (AMEX:VRNG[17]): Down 6.13% (23 cents) to $3.52.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK[18]): Down 5.65% (19 cents) to $3.17.

Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.